Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: We don't life alone. I can't imagine any part of my life alone. And I didn't realize in my early career that applies to work as well. Regardless of our title, regardless of our role or accountability, we're not meant to do that alone.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Welcome to the a M significant Healthcare voice podcast series featuring insights on healthcare trends and hot topics direct from industry leaders.
[00:00:34] Speaker C: Welcome to a M's significant Healthcare Voices podcast series. I'm Doris Steinem, a managing director with Alvarez and Marcel within our healthcare industry group. I'm joined by my co host and a M colleague, Katie Thompson, and I am thrilled and honored to welcome Christina English, who is the executive director of commercial products at La Care. And Christina has more than 25 years of healthcare experience in business management, product development and performance. And in her current role at La Care, she's responsible for delivering top line revenues, net operating results, and outstanding compliance and quality score results for Ella care covered California, LA Care direct and the PASC Skiu product lines. We are so excited to have you today. Christina, welcome.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Oh my God, Doris and Katie, thank you so much for having me. I'm so honored myself, right, that you guys would think of me and consider me as part of this program. So thank you.
[00:01:39] Speaker C: Well, you are a true leader in the healthcare space and just want to jump right in here. You have been doing critical work with your organization and in the community of Los Angeles. We recently saw the article that featured you and you're very focused on your team and your leadership in your organization, and you're very passionate about leadership in your organization. So tell us a little bit about what you do to invest in the future of your leadership.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: Yeah, thank you. And what a great question, because I think more so we spend a lot of time, especially at work, talking about metrics and whether or not a particular goal or initiative is met. But really in the last few years, I've really come to understand and truly value that our greatest asset is really our employees and that as leaders, we have an obligation to really help those individuals that choose to be leaders find an easier path than most of us had on their way there. And I think one of the things that really sparked and helped connect the dots for me was a lot of articles that I was reading, fortune or the Wall Street Journal, things like that, that were highlighting that more and more individuals are disheartened at work. And there's also another phenomena where we tend to promote and default subject matter experts that are really good at a particular space within our organization to be the leaders, but that we don't necessarily give them the tools to be great leaders. And so imagine that then that creates a cycle of, on the leadership side, almost shy and or embarrassed to ask for help. On the other side, those receiving that leadership, concerned that they're not getting the leadership that they need in order to be successful in their roles. And then it creates a culture that we don't want, which is then a culture of fear or a culture of just silently suffering in those roles. And then that leads to turnover. And there's other articles, right, that as we get older, the other generations, like millennials and Gen Zers, are really looking for something different in the workplace than what we're used to. And so I think all of that, Doris and Katie, is what really had me thinking and connecting the dots. And I realized that instead of trying to boil the ocean, what I could do is start with myself, right? And I can really focus on how I show up as a leader and to those who I touch and hope that then I create light in those engagements so that then they pass it on forward. Because I think we owe it not only to the good work that we do in healthcare, right? I like to tease that we can't all be entrepreneurs like Grant Cardone. I love him. He has so many different. Any social media outlet that I'm in, there's all this great, like become a real estate this or become a real estate tycoon. And while all that sounds really great, and for those that choose that path, it's a wonderful path. But I think in healthcare, I personally really do believe in the promise of healthcare. I think it is an essential human right and that it requires real leadership to be leading these organizations that are responsible for this service to the community.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: That all makes a ton of sense, and we understand why you're so focused on it. I understand as well. Part of building that great organization of leaders is recruitment. And when you're recruiting for your organization, you're looking for people who are committed to impacting the community. How do you recruit so that you find the individuals with the right business skill set, but also the drive to really invest in that community?
[00:05:45] Speaker A: That's a great question. I'm going to give you a small little disclaimer, right, that as the ED, I have the opportunity to interview folks that have already probably been through a few different rounds, right? They've already been scanned by the HR hiring person. They probably already went through a couple of other panels or interviews prior to getting to me. So I give you that as a disclaimer. So by the time that I get an opportunity to interview a candidate, I tell you, the way I show up is really talking about my own personal values and trying to listen for the values that that individual brings to the table. I think one of the things that is really important, especially in our industry, is to not forget that everything that we do is in service of a member. Right? And so if I can get someone that could get engaged and passionate about how even answering a call, processing a claim, doing a contract with the vendor timely is all in service of a member, I think we're on the right path.
[00:06:52] Speaker C: Such a great example, Christina.
We see that time and time again need to focus on the member. I have seen you act as a wonderful mentor and you're always looking at ways to enhance your team, enable your team, give them tools to make sure that they're impactful. And that as you just talked about, that they are providing value to their members and what they do. At La care, I know that you run an initiative called Mindful Mondays. Talk a little bit about that because I have been participating, Katie has been participating. It's a wonderful thing that you do. And how has that changed your work environment? And tell us a little bit about that.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: Yeah, sure. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share that. So mindful Monday actually came out actually of a frustrating moment. And I do genuinely believe in the mentoring and the sponsoring of individuals because I like to think of myself as a product of that. I've been blessed in my 25 years to have several leaders that have helped me along the way. So I believe in giving back. And so I was actually a bit frustrated that the recent mentoring program was coming and I was going to have to decline it. And so it was actually talking to a dear colleague of mine who is the COO here at La care and I was mentioning to Acacia, her name is Acacia Reed and I was mentioning to Acacia, there's got to be a different way that we can still do what we intend to do, right, which is to share, to share real experiences and still allow people to grow. And so I had mentioned to her that it felt like we were just processing out loud. And I was saying to her, it feels like a meeting. It feels like a forum where we can invite individuals, maybe leaders and start a conversation.
So I credit her for saying, and I was saying, and maybe we should start at the beginning of the week because maybe we can use it to set positive intentions as we move forward. Right? And she's the one that said, you should call it mindful Mondays and so that's how that started. But I will tell you, the initial idea was to give is to lend a platform and create a community, right? And like we mentioned before, when we think about our organizations, we do a lot of investing in technical skills.
We don't always invest in the soft leadership skills that are really important to influence and drive. It's really the difference, those tools really make the difference between demanding and commanding your role, right? And often those tools go unsharpened, if you will. I think a lot of us have them. We don't always sharpen them. And that idea around mindful Monday was to lend time to do that. When we open the meeting, we say we give ourselves permission to grow, right? Because we don't always make time for that. And I think what the community has now turned to be is almost a calling because I've received such positive feedback. And Doris, you've been one of our wonderful leaders, know and I shared, right? Not only do I get texts and jabbers and or emails about how important the message was, but I've actually seen it. I think I shared with you personally that I was in a meeting the very next day after you presented and the person was citing what they had learned the day before, right? So I personally feel like we contribute small little nuggets into the toolbox, right? And that we're actually seeing them being passed along. And that's all we really wanted to create, was a forum where people can have that opportunity to invest in themselves, give themselves permission to grow, and then hopefully create that light that then shines the path to others.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Speaking of sharing and sharing experiences and sharing wisdom, what lessons have you learned in your career that you would share with others earlier on in their career? And on the other hand, what lessons would you share with your peers? Finding and cultivating the right leaders to help your organization grow?
[00:11:17] Speaker A: My number one lesson that I like to share is that we don't life alone. I can't imagine any part of my life alone. And I didn't realize in my early career that applies to work as well. Regardless of our title, regardless of our role or accountability, we're not meant to do that alone.
And I don't know why early on I was connecting that I needed to learn, and I'm just making a few examples. Like I needed to know how to interpret operational data, I needed to learn how to interpret financial data, I needed to learn how to interpret network data, and I would spend lots of sleepless nights working alone trying to figure this stuff out top to bottom which then would result to me creating a presentation or showing up at a meeting feeling fully armed, right. To answer every question.
And it sounds silly, but I didn't connect the dots until one leader, early in my career produced this deck. And I was really proud of this presentation. And they just asked, did you collaborate on this? It was a simple question, right? And they said, did you collaborate on this? And my answer was no. Right. When I stepped back and I realized, oh, I was meant to partner with finance. I was meant to partner with the analytics team. Once I got that, it really connected things very differently for me. And I think that was the very first time that I realized that as a leader, I'm not expected to be a subject matter expert. I'm expected to be a thought partner. I'm expected to be able to influence and make recommendations, right? And that was the big switch for me. And often when individuals ask my advice, I still give the same advice, because more often we get lost on trying to be precise and accurate rather than pulling our thoughts up where we can create our greatest value, which is in our thought partnership. On the second part of your question, what advice do I give other leaders is that is, depending on your role and your accountability, be willing to step back and let your leaders do some of that work and be a thought partner to them. Right. Don't tell them what to do. Don't give directives. I know sometimes we may have to do that, but it shouldn't be our go to skill. Right. It should be more of what are you thinking? What are you imagining? What are you designing? Right? These are really powerful questions. And most recently, I realized the power of a what question as opposed to spending calories on why something happened. Right. Let's talk about the what we're going to do. Let's fix this.
And I get it. Sometimes we do have to go and ask a why question so that we can learn enough from it so we don't repeat it. But really, the thought partnership that I think is most valuable is when we make time to ask the what questions and then help individuals really think and broaden their perspective.
[00:14:44] Speaker C: Dina, that was fantastic.
Such a great conversation. Thank you. We are so honored to have you participate in our podcast, and we've seen all of this in action, and you are a true leader in your organization. And just, again, an honor to have you here. And thank you. Just thank you so much. It's been wonderful.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: Thank you both. Thank you both. I admire you guys know, you guys have been working with LA. Care for a minute? Right? And I think all the work that you guys do is really important for us, too. So thank you for including us.
[00:15:20] Speaker C: Thank you. We love to be a thought partner with you. And so, so thank you for those that have joined our conversation today. Thank you for listening to our podcast. And if you want to find out more information about a M or you want to listen to more podcasts, you can visit www.alvarezmarsl.com slash healthcare. And thank you again. It's wonderful.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: Thank you.
